This review originally appeared on Goodreads on September 13, 2012.

Cadaver in Chief

By Steve Hockensmith – Self-Published – July 31, 2012

Review by Robin Marx

This novella is by the author of a prequel and sequel to Pride and Prejudice and Zombies (but not that book itself, interestingly). While Cadaver in Chief continues to deal with zombies, this time the undead menace are blended with a satire of election year politics.

The story was brief but engaging, with many interesting implications. Retiring reporter Jan Woods comes across a blog post claiming that the President of the United States was attacked and killed by a zombie while on the campaign trail, and that the whole affair has been covered up by the government. Despite the unreliable source of the claims, she decides to investigate further, with hazardous results.

The setting was especially fascinating. While most zombie apocalypse stories take place after the sudden collapse of society, Cadaver in Chief depicts an invasion in progress, with an America that is slowly crumbling. Citizens are trying to cope: everyone is constantly armed and new social rules have cropped up. Those who damage a zombie (or “nasty”) are responsible for finishing it off, and pedestrians greet each other loudly to avoid being shot by wary neighbors. Gallows humor is everywhere. It'd be nice to see this setting revisited by the author. It could easily serve as the stage for a serious horror novel if some of the comedic elements were toned down.

Somewhat depressingly, I actually found the fictional Beltway pundits' diatribes to be less tone-deaf and absurd than the real-life political discourse going on in the US right now. Truth is stranger—and dumber—than fiction in this case.

Elements of comedy and horror are generally tricky to balance, but I think Hockensmith succeeded in walking that tightrope. The end result is a fast-paced story that spices its humor with some genuinely creepy moments. It's very important that a comedy story not outstay its welcome, but I wouldn't have minded spending more time exploring this world.

★★★★☆

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